1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle immobilization system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vehicle thefts and joy-riding are commonplace nowadays. Typically, the most conventional way adopted by the police of stopping a stolen vehicle is either by pursuing it or by placing a device on the road, which punctures the vehicle's tires.
Both of the above-mentioned methods of stopping stolen vehicles are unsatisfactory, since they generally involve dangerous pursuits at high speeds.
It has been proposed to overcome the above-mentioned problem by providing a system for remotely disabling a vehicles engine. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 5,276,728, which comprises a first remote control device having means for transmitting a predetermined wireless control signal, a second remote control device also having means for transmitting the predetermined wireless control signal, and a vehicle unit having a receiver for receiving the control signals and means for disabling and enabling the vehicle in response to either of the control signals.
In use the first remote control device is carried by the vehicle's owner and is used to enable and disable the vehicle upon leaving and returning to the vehicle. The second remote control device is carried by the police and can be used to disable the vehicle if it is stolen After the disabled vehicle has been recovered, the police are able to enable the vehicle.
A disadvantage of the above-mentioned system is that the police need to know the appropriate code in order to disable a stolen vehicle and this is often difficult to obtain, at least within a reasonable time. It may be possible to obtain these details from a database by entering the vehicle's license plate number. However, stolen vehicles often have forged plates bearing a false number.